How Does A Christian Worldview Match Up With Reality?

Part 4: Truth in Worldviews

This blog is part of a series. You can start the series by going back to the September 1, 2014 Introduction called A Case for Christianity: Why do we need one?

All worldviews can be wrong, but they cannot all be right. They all attempt to answer the biggest questions of life, but which one has the best answers? Which one will best match up with truth that corresponds to reality?

What Is A Worldview?

A set of beliefs and presuppositions used to define views on:

Humanity
Purpose
Duty
Truth
Society/Social roles
The Sciences
The Arts

What we believe to be true in these areas form the foundation of our worldview

Let’s compare a Christian worldview with a Secular worldview:

VIEW ON	SECULAR	CHRISTIAN
Purpose	To do whatever helps us survive; to be happy; to be a “good person”	To pursue God’s plan found in the Bible and share it with others; imitate the person of Jesus with eternity in mind
Duty	Self first, then others, nature and the planet, maybe a god in some form	God first, fellow humans, God’s creation, then self
Truth	Relative and postmodern—based on cultural norms	God’s Word in the Bible, Jesus’ teachings and examples
Society/Social roles	Current cultural norms, whatever is socially acceptable	Biblical values and roles based on God’s Word
The Sciences	What we can test and observe—no god—random chance and evolution based on natural selection	Start from God’s creative beginning and what is taught in His Word then match to what we can test and observe
The Arts	Representative feelings of a moment or time period	Beauty based on God’s design and purpose

How does a Christian worldview match up with reality?

We can know truth when we compare worldviews to reality. False worldviews will always fall short and bring about unfavorable consequences. If a worldview is true it will not have any inconsistencies, you will see that the results will always match up with reality. Realty is the way things really are. For example, If you wanted to get to the parking lot from inside an auditorium the truth is that you would need to use the door. However, you might say “in my worldview I can walk through the wall to get there.” The problem is when you put this view into practice you will run into the wall and you might get hurt. There are many views in our secular culture about how to do life, the problem is that when we choose the wrong view we find that sooner or later we run into the wall. This consequence in the Christian worldview is called sin. Sin is the separation of the will from reason concerning reality and results in a faulty worldview. Christianity views sin as a separation from the will of God. Which one of the above worldviews has stood the test of time? Which one if followed closely will result in the most productive and ultimately most fulfilling life? Statistics show that people who seriously follow the Christian worldview have reported the most productive and fulfilled lives.

A Christian’s worldview comes from the Bible which speaks to all of the life issues we encounter, including our…

relationships
understanding of science, health and medicine
understanding of when life begins
understanding of what happens after death
understanding of history
views on politics
ethical practices
use of logic
view of family life
attitudes in everyday life experiences

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NLT)

Let me know what you think: